Mod9 Max DPS THF Build (WF Frenzied Berserker)

[Wraith_Sarevok]

I'm going over alternate gear choices for my Barbarian. Would the Scourge Choker make a good alternate trinket? I'm not exactly sure how the Blood Rage effect stacks with other Rage effects, if at all. How well does it deliver in mid-late game battles?

[Boromirs]

Remember, docent of quickening gives you 10% fighter-like alacrity, could that be it? Were you wearing a docent of quickening by chance?

[Nick_RC]

Scourge choker is a necklace firstly as to it's viability - it's highly situTional at best. If u were looking for trinkets the following are ur best

1. Litany/(epic) bloodstone
2. Head of good fortune/voice (depending on gear setups and quests-I.e vs undead no need for seeker)

N

[Belwaar]

I'm going over alternate gear choices for my Barbarian. Would the Scourge Choker make a good alternate trinket? I'm not exactly sure how the Blood Rage effect stacks with other Rage effects, if at all. How well does it deliver in mid-late game battles?

Scourge Choker is actually a necklace, and yes it stacks with all Rage effects.

The only downside is that when it gets to the cooldown of about 10 seconds, it slows your attack speed by half. It's nice if you're tanking, as you'll really benefit from the extra CON for hps. I like it, but that's b/c I'm a max Str kinda guy...the higher my Str, the bigger my grin.

[Shade]

Never EVER use the scourge choker. It is the worst possible necklace to wear in the game. You'd be better off wearing nothing.

It SEVERELY (-50%) destroys you DPS, and contrary to belief its 100% unavoidable in all situations. Just don't bother with it.

An extra 6 str doesn't come anywhere close to giving you an extra +50% dps. As such its not worth it.

I can't think of any situations where you should be tanking without dealing dmg on a barb with the extra 6con would matter either. In almost all cases you should be attacking, with perhaps some minor pauses to sheild block if healer sget busy healing other players, having your max hp pop up and down randomly does not do much to help them keep you alive.

[sephiroth1084]

Never EVER use the scourge choker. It is the worst possible necklace to wear in the game. You'd be better off wearing nothing.

It SEVERELY (-50%) destroys you DPS, and contrary to belief its 100% unavoidable in all situations. Just don't bother with it.

An extra 6 str doesn't come anywhere close to giving you an extra +50% dps. As such its not worth it.

I can't think of any situations where you should be tanking without dealing dmg on a barb with the extra 6con would matter either. In almost all cases you should be attacking, with perhaps some minor pauses to sheild block if healer sget busy healing other players, having your max hp pop up and down randomly does not do much to help them keep you alive.

Is there no situation in which you're getting hit frequently enough to keep the choker from reseting?

[Hydro]

Is there no situation in which you're getting hit frequently enough to keep the choker from reseting?

I have tried the neck main tanking every raid boss and no matter how much or how fast he was hitting I still was getting fatigued at least once every sixety seconds. It just doesn't seem worth it, honestly it seems to do the best in the hands of a caster, 2-6 con any time you get hit with no need to worry about side effects.

[Belwaar]

I have tried the neck main tanking every raid boss and no matter how much or how fast he was hitting I still was getting fatigued at least once every sixety seconds. It just doesn't seem worth it, honestly it seems to do the best in the hands of a caster, 2-6 con any time you get hit with no need to worry about side effects.

This is about what I've seen, as well.

[Belwaar]

Having your max hp pop up and down randomly does not do much to help them keep you alive.

The fluctuation in max Con/HP shouldn't matter if you're tanking. You should have enough hp before you even start, let alone worrying about getting hit with the bloodrage/increase in hp. Having said that, I agree, it shouldn't be worn when you're tanking a raid boss.

I do, however, enjoy having it on, when running back and worth between the next mob. More times than not, you'll already have killed that mob that trigged the effect and you should be on your way to the next mob attack when the timer starts, giving yourself plenty of time for the effect to wear off. I wouldn't and don't wear it during epic content, and don't recommend it either.

[Bart_D]

As a WF barbarian, why would i put points into dexterity? My AC will be useless anyway and my reflex save will be poor too, and fails only mean i take full damage. Won't it be better to put the points into wisdom for a decent will save so i don't get shut down so often? Wven with 28pts, starting wisdom 12 is cheap and with WF and rage enhancements, I think it will help sometimes?

(Sorry if this is really obvious, but im new to WF )

[Shade]

my reflex save will be poor too,

Incorrect. This build has a good reflex save that works well on all content even all the way up to epic.

If you want your reflex save to be poor by dumping dex, it will be. If you follow the guide and take some dex and wear a resist item, it will be good.

The main key to maintaining a good reflex at the higher levels is putting uncanny dodge to good use. Sometimes it will run out ,but it will have a good impact as long as you keep using all your character per shrine.

Versus willsave:
Not really. The way the game is setup now willsaves are very weak and inconsequtial at almost every level. When I originalyl designed it, they were more important as the effecst were more devastating (example: fear could last several minuits with no re-curring save, vs now it last a very short time and has a recurring save every 2 seconds)
As such I almost recommend dumping wisdom entirelly.. However there are still some very rare encounters that willsave matters. (Only 2-3 endgame areas come to mind: VoN series - greater command, Dreaming Dark series - Paralytic touch from dream quori, on every hit )
Also dumping wis from 8 to 6 has other issues: EG: Going helpless for 0 wisdom. Some enemies deal wisdom damage, infact they deal 1d6.. So a bad roll and they will 1 shot helpless you, but with 8 thats impossible. Also 8+3 tome = 11, the minimum required for silver flame potion use. If you go 6, you'd need a +4 tome and the littany of the dead, extremely hard to get and you really should probalby give that +4 wis tome to a clr/fvs if you find one.

For now for the 32 pnt recommendation I'm going to change the recommendation to +2 dex instead of wis.. But as new content comes and changes to the game its subject to change again heh. Either way, having at least 11-14 base ensures you should have a good score at the endgame.

[Bart_D]

Thanks for replying so fast

With 28 pts, str18 and at least con14+2 seem obvious, leaving 6 stat points. I will be starting out almost fresh on a new server (look out for Gnomean on Argonessen!) and will not have access to tomes until i can find/afford them, so it dont know about the odd starting scores...

Going by 1st and most recent posts, both reflex and will are useful and worth investing in... how about starting with Str16 only and putting 6 stat points into each?
Edit: I know it wint be all-out dps, but +3 to a save or attack+1/damage+2...? (anything else important here?)

[Shade]

Going by 1st and most recent posts, both reflex and will are useful and worth investing in... how about starting with Str16 only and putting 6 stat points into each?
Edit: I know it wint be all-out dps, but +3 to a save or attack+1/damage+2...? (anything else important here?)

Str effects almost all of your important abilities.

Saves against ovver run, knockdown ,trip.
Bonuses to jump, swim.
Damage (150%)
Attack

Always go 18.

Saves matter, but strength is the utmost priority.

[sephiroth1084]

Do you find it to be worth investing in Dex at all, given how high Reflex saves scale at end game?

[Shade]

Do you find it to be worth investing in Dex at all, given how high Reflex saves scale at end game?

As I just said yes.

My characters dexterity that uses this build fluctuates between 25-26. He makes almost all endgame reflex saves on a 2-5.

[Wraith_Sarevok]

According to the DDO Wiki, Dominate Person should only target humanoids. Assuming that the vampire ability follows the same rules as the spell, Warforged characters should already be immune to dominate. In my few runs of Church and the Cult, I haven't seen my WF fall victim to the spell yet. So, I'm wondering if that Fragment of the Silver Flame recommendation is a leftover from the dwarf guide?

[Shade]

According to the DDO Wiki, Dominate Person should only target humanoids. Assuming that the vampire ability follows the same rules as the spell, Warforged characters should already be immune to dominate. In my few runs of Church and the Cult, I haven't seen my WF fall victim to the spell yet. So, I'm wondering if that Fragment of the Silver Flame recommendation is a leftover from the dwarf guide?

Protection from evil confers more protection then just dominate.

I'm fairly sure mind flayers cast dominate monster - which works on non-persons unlike the vampires dominate-person spells.

But regardless of wheathers thats true (not tested it lately), it also protects you from greater command - a spell that certainly works well on a warforged.

Either way, yea the fragment isn't particuarly as important as it was years ago when I made the guide. The silver flame talisman is a better alternative.

[Carpone]

Neck slot - Prior to obtaining a Finger Necklace, what would you recommend for the neck slot? Silver Flame Talisman? I could do CON here instead of a waist slot, but I'm trying to minimize juggling slots around. Also, since I'm using neck for deathblock I don't want to lose 6 CON when I need to wear it. Suggestions?

Boot slot - Prior to obtaining Madstone Boots, I'm using striding and springing boots. For those with Madstone Boots, how are you dealing with Featherfall? Are you just using a clicky when needed? Featherfall ring?

[Khellendros13]

Neck slot - Prior to obtaining a Finger Necklace, what would you recommend for the neck slot? Silver Flame Talisman? I could do CON here instead of a waist slot, but I'm trying to minimize juggling slots around. Also, since I'm using neck for deathblock I don't want to lose 6 CON when I need to wear it. Suggestions?

Boot slot - Prior to obtaining Madstone Boots, I'm using striding and springing boots. For those with Madstone Boots, how are you dealing with Featherfall? Are you just using a clicky when needed? Featherfall ring?

I map 4-0 to my mouse (hotbar 1) and have hotbar 2 above that with alt+4 -alt+0. So my mouse is basically 14 hotkeys. On every toon, alt+4 is ff boots or ring, with the original item for that slot in a hotbar directly above it. This way I can throw on ff in a split second.

I have given up on Finger Necklace or Docent of blood - Docent of Defiance stops more damage than I would gain with the small heal amp from DoB, and Finger Necklace would mean no Shintao Set. Then I also don't have anything to trade for these high value items

Just my opinion so far - However I can see max heal amp would be beneficial on a fleshy barb tanking Horath since they have no DR20 option and lots of the damage is not physical, vs a small amount of extra DPS from Shintao set (and even then you would be in ToD for those rings )

I have always used Deathblock armour (robes, docent) for a quick change when I see a beholder. Deathblock on Amulet though will be better when I eventually finish off Silver Flame favour though I admit.

[sephiroth1084]

As I just said yes.

My characters dexterity that uses this build fluctuates between 25-26. He makes almost all endgame reflex saves on a 2-5.

How are you getting your Dex this high?